{"id":49439,"date":"2021-09-16T15:12:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T03:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=49439"},"modified":"2024-07-11T14:12:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T02:12:08","slug":"talleys-shifts-blame-for-illegal-bottom-trawl-onto-skipper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/talleys-shifts-blame-for-illegal-bottom-trawl-onto-skipper\/","title":{"rendered":"Talley\u2019s shifts blame for illegal bottom trawl onto skipper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Court papers have revealed that Talley\u2019s deepwater fishing division, Amaltal, has shifted the blame for illegally bottom trawling in the Hikurangi Marine Reserve off Kaik\u014dura, a year after the company was found guilty of the breach.<\/a><\/p>\n\n

The Amaltal Mariner trawled into the reserve in March 2019, in an area that has been called the \u201cmost biologically rich ocean habitat in the world.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n

But despite both the skipper and Talley\u2019s being initially found guilty of the illegal trawls, the conviction of the fishing company was set aside by the High Court.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace says this ruling shows loopholes that must be closed, to ensure commercial fishing companies don\u2019t get away with trashing protected areas of the ocean.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWhat we have seen with Talley\u2019s historically is a pattern of bad behaviour: repeated charges of their vessels illegally trawling in protected areas, followed by attempts to evade responsibility by blaming the skippers or observers,\u201d says Greenpeace\u2019s Ellie Hooper.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cTalley\u2019s has washed their hands of it and taken no responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The company is also accused of illegally trawling in a no-trawl zone in the Tasman Sea<\/a>. This prosecution has still not been completed three years after the offence, and the ship continues to fish.  <\/p>\n\n

In January 2021, a further illegal trawl incident by a New Zealand vessel was highlighted at the meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), but officials have not released further details.<\/p>\n\n

What information has been shared, suggests a vessel trawling on a seamount likely destroyed a vulnerable marine ecosystem, which may have been the only one of its kind in the area.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace says there is a clear pattern of illegality in the bottom trawling industry, with every company given high seas permits this year having been recently convicted of offences.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe softly-softly approach from the government obviously hasn\u2019t worked,\u201d says Hooper.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cTalley\u2019s and other commercial fishing companies are doing damage to vulnerable parts of the ocean, but are still being issued permits to continue trawling.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cMarine Reserves should protect the most precious and biologically diverse parts of the ocean – like Hikurangi – but this case shows that companies can too easily dodge their responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) are calling for better protection of seamounts from bottom trawl fishing. They demand that:<\/p>\n\n